My Driftmaster Bent!

Well, a bit of a lesson learned I guess. I have the "lil pros" which have 3/8 inch bases. Last weekend a 43# Blue ended up bending one of them. All of my reels are set to rip off drag at a very reasonable tension. Even after the incident I checked to confirm that my drag was set right for my style of fishing. I was quite suprised that this occurred because I have caught much larger fish on these rod holders without any problems. I was on this fish pretty fast too.

I now know that I should have gone with the "pro" model which have 1/2 inch bases. Oh well, live and learn. Still shocked that it bent though.

I had a fish slam mine hard last year on the Mississippi River and BROKE it at the weld. Yeah..... I'm wishing I went with the 1/2" too. I may just have to buckle down and do it but I already have 12 of the 3/8 inchers installed on my boat!:sad2:

I dont want to get into a debate but want to state what works for me.
I have been using down-east holdres for over 10 years with none broken or lost rods.
They say the smaller ones are rated for 25# but have caught many around 40#

I've fabricated my own rod holders out of 3/8" round rod. It don't really take much to break one, just a bad weld. Knowing this, and knowing the law of averages as they apply to me, I always tie my rods to the boat with a four or five foot piece of small rope. They may break the rod holder, but they are gonna have to sink the boat to get the rod and reel. It is a little inconvenience to fish that way, but it is cheaper than buying one or two outfits each year. LOL

Well, a bit of a lesson learned I guess. I have the "lil pros" which have 3/8 inch bases. Last weekend a 43# Blue ended up bending one of them. All of my reels are set to rip off drag at a very reasonable tension. Even after the incident I checked to confirm that my drag was set right for my style of fishing. I was quite suprised that this occurred because I have caught much larger fish on these rod holders without any problems. I was on this fish pretty fast too.

I now know that I should have gone with the "pro" model which have 1/2 inch bases. Oh well, live and learn. Still shocked that it bent though.

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how long are the stems on yours? if you use 3/8th then u need to use the shortest stem available to reduce the leverage onthe rod holder when a big one pulls it down... i have all 3/8ths holders on both of my boats and have got snagged drifting and had 40# big game break with the rod still in the holder and doubled under the boat and not bend anything..